Staff Exchange

Oulu University of Applied Sciences welcomes visiting teachers, lecturers and experts to enrich our curricula and courses by teaching in our degree programmes in their own fields of expertise. Teacher exchange is also a good opportunity for the teachers themselves to learn about teaching methods used in Finland, and in particular, at Oulu University of Applied Sciences. In addition it is a great chance to experience Finnish culture and hospitality.

Teacher exchanges are usually governed by either a bilateral agreement signed between Oulu University of Applied Sciences and a partner institution or by the framework of a mobility programme. Oulu University of Applied Sciences actively takes part in most of the EU programmes in the field of education as well as participating in other exchange programmes, such as the University of the Arctic's northTREX.

We welcome exchange teachers and visiting lecturers to teach and give lectures both in our degree programmes taught in English, as well as in the degree programmes conducted in Finnish. In most cases visiting lecturers and teachers teach in English regardless of the programme's normal language of instruction.

A successful teaching period abroad requires thorough advance planning. The most favourable outcomes are reached when the visiting lecturer's teaching is included into our normal curriculum as an integral part our students' studies. This requires at least six months of advance planning and in many cases it is beneficial to the programme planning if the exchange can be repeated in consecutive academic years. However, single-year teaching visits are always considered. When planning for a teacher exchange period at Oulu University of Applied Sciences, please take our academic calendar into consideration as well as the duration of terms that run from the end of August/beginning of September to Christmas and from early January to the end of May. The ending dates of the academic year vary from school to school. Traditionally, teaching in the field of Technology, Communication and Transport ends first, in the beginning of May, while teaching in most other schools ends by the end of May. However, our School of Vocational Teacher Education also has a summer term in June and August. In July all our schools are closed.

Salary, travel, living expenses and other similar costs incurred by the teacher exchange period are usually the responsibility of the teacher's home institution and/or the visiting teacher/lecturer. Reciprocally, the corresponding expenses are covered by the Oulu University of Applied Sciences when our teachers go to teach abroad.

Both the exchange teachers and students will find further information about Oulu University of Applied Sciences, our curricula and many practical issues such as travel connections and daily life in our ECTS Information Package. The package is available online at www.oamk.fi/english/ects/.

Please read about previous exchange teachers' experiences about teaching at Oulu University of Applied Sciences on our web pages. The first persons to contact at Oulu University of Applied Sciences are our departmental international co-ordinators. They have the best insight into the teacher exchange opportunities in their schools and departments. They will also be able to start arranging a teacher exchange and can assist the willing exchange teachers with contacting the teachers of corresponding subjects at Oulu University of Applied Sciences.